Hou Yifan

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Hou Yifan
Corus chess tournament, Wijk aan Zee, 2007
Full nameHou Yifan
Country China
TitleGrandmaster elect (October 2008)
Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
FIDE rating2557
(No. 4 on the July 2008 FIDE rating list for women and No.1 on the July 2008 FIDE rating list for girls)
Peak rating2557 (July 2008)

Template:Chinese name

Hou Yifan (Chinese: 侯逸凡[2]; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán) (born February 27, 1994, in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is a Chinese chess player. She is ranked the strongest girl player[3] and the fourth strongest female player in the world.[4] In 2007, she became China's youngest ever National Women's Champion.

From 24 August to 18 September, she is competing at the Women's World Chess Championship 2008 in Nalchik, Russia.

Career

Hou started playing chess at the age of 6. She said:[5] "I took up chess because I was fascinated by the pieces - I just liked it. In the future, I want to be a professional chess player or maybe study to be a doctor." She was admitted to the National Chess Center, an academy for young talented players from all over the country,[6] in Beijing when she was 10,[7] and has leading Chinese grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng as her trainers.[8][9] She lists her interests as reading and studying, and her favorite chess player as Bobby Fischer.[5][6]

She lives with her mother in Beijing.[6] Chess writer Leonard Barden has said that she could rival Judit Polgar as the best ever female player.[10]

2003-2004

Hou's early tournament successes came in the form of first place (9.5/11; +8 =3 -0) in the girl's under-10 section of the World Youth Championship in Halkidiki in 23 October-2 November 2003.[11] This was followed, in 3-14 November 2004, by coming in third place (9.0/11; +8 =2 -1, tied first on points) and winning bronze in the boy's under-10 section of the World Youth Championship, also held in Halkidiki.[12]

On 1 January 2004, she received her first International FIDE rating of 2168, which qualified her to be titled as a Woman FIDE Master (>2100 elo points).

At the 11th Asian Women's Championship that took place in Beirut, Lebanon 4-11 December 2004, she came 11th with a score of 4.5/9 (+4 =1 -4; TPR 2278). Wang Yu of China won the event with 6.5/9.[13]

2005

She came to the notice of the international chess community for her fifth placing of 7.0/11 (+6 =2 -3) (tied for fourth) at the 3 Arrows Cup 2005 ladies tournament in Jinan, China. In that tournament, she defeated international master Almira Skripchenko and achieved a performance rating of 2393.[14]

2006

Hou proved that her performance in Jinan was not a fluke by reaching the third round (the round of 16) of the Women's World Chess Championship in 2006.[15] She defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (rated 2480) of Russia 1.5-0.5 in the first round, then the former 2000 European champion WGM Natalia Zhukova (2432) of Ukraine 2-0 in the 2nd round,[16] but lost to IM Nino Khurtsidze (2430) of Georgia 0-2 in the third to post a decent performance rating of 2504.[17]

In May-June 2006, China came third winning bronze at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Hou Yifan at her Olympiad debut confirmed her talent with a score of 11.0/13 (+10, =2, -1), all played on the third board, and finished with a performance rating of 2596.[18] For this her winning percentage (84.6%) won a silver medal for fourth (reserve) board performance, and her performance rating of 2596 was the third highest overall.[19]

In October in Yerevan, Armenia at the World Junior Chess Championship (Girl's section) she went on to take second place on tiebreak with a score of 9.0/12 (tied for first on points) after winner Shen Yang. Her rating performance was 2469.[20]

2007

At the start of 2007 in January, Hou achieved a respectable fifth place in Group C (Cat. 10, 2486) of the Corus Chess Tournament. She scored 7.0/13 (+4 =6 -3) with a performance rating of 2513.[21][22][23] It was at this tournament where she earned her WGM title, formally conferred by FIDE in late January 2007.

In her first Aeroflot Open in February 2007 a few weeks before her 13th birthday, she started well with two wins out of two defeating first Russian IM, Nikita Vitiugov rated 2604, and then the former (2001) European Champion, GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel rated 2629. But in the third round she was defeated by the Russian Championship runnerup, Dmitry Jakovenko, and made only one draw in her next five games. But she rallied in the final round with a victory against the strong Greek grandmaster, Vassilios Kotronias and finished with a respectable 3.5/9.[24][25][26]

In May 2007 in Ekaterinburg, the 1st World Women's Team Chess Championship was held. Hou Yifan was part of winning China national team that also included Zhao Xue, Ruan Lufei, Shen Yang, and Huang Qian. Hou Yifan played in every round on board two and scored 7.5/9 (+7 =1 -1) winning the gold medal for that board. Her performance rating was 2559.[27][28][29]

In June 2007, she won her first Chinese Women's Chess Championship in Chongqing, breaking WGM Qin Kanying's—who won her first title at the age of 14 in 1988—record as the youngest champion with a score of 9.0/11. Second and third place went to Zhao Xue and Shen Yang, respectively.[30][31]

In 4-15 August, she competed in what was then her strongest closed tournament - the 5th Gyorgy Marx Memorial (Cat. 14, 2582) in Paks, Hungary. Being the lowest rated player and the only non-Grandmaster (out of Pentala Harikrishna, Peter Acs, Csaba Balogh, Ferenc Berkes and Viktor Korchnoi), she finished in last place in the double round robin event with 3.0/10 (+1 =4 -5; TPR 2444).[32][33]

In October 2007, she competed at the European Club Cup in Kemer, Turkey for team Southern Ural Cheliabinsk, which came in at fourth place in the women's tournament. She came 5th in the individual women's standings with a score of 5.0/7 (+3 4= -0) and performance rating of 2547.[34][35]

From October 26 to November 3, she competed for Team China at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau. The national team won team gold in the classic chess mixed team event with 11 match points (18.5 game points out of 24) The Chinese team were Zhao Xue, Xu Yuhua, Hou Yifan, Wang Hao, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzhi.[36] Hou Yifan also won an individual gold medal for her board two display with a score of 5.5/6 (+5 =1 -0; 91.7%) and a performance rating of 2596.[37][38]

2008

This year she began a concerted attempt to become a grandmaster.

In the January Corus 2008 chess tournament, Hou competed in Group B where she finished in a tie for seventh to tenth place achieving a performance rating of 2598 and victories over three grandmasters, including a 23 move win over Nigel Short.[39]

In February 2008, Hou gained her first Grandmaster norm with a performance rating of 2605 at the Aeroflot Open by finishing in 31st place (4.5/9 score).[40][41]

This was followed in March 2008 with a victory at the 1st Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament in Istanbul where she finished a point ahead of the rest of the field on 7.0/9 and a tournament performance rating of 2674.[42][43] She did not lose a single game having won 5 games and drawn 4. Her victory in this tournament should also provide her a GM norm though this is conditional on FIDE ratifying WGM Zhao Xue's attainment of her Grandmaster title.[44] According to a report she gained a GM norm, as there were 2 GM players (Pia Cramling and Zhu Chen) and she had well above 2600 performance.[45] However, the requirements for such a GM norm include playing against 3 GM opponents.[46]

In April 2008, she competed in Mérida, Spain at the 2nd Ruy Lopez Chess Festival tournament. In a category XV round robin event she failed to gain a GM norm after finishing with 2.0/7 (+1, =4, -3) and a rating performance of 2467.[47][48]

Hou Yifan at the 2008 World Junior Chess Championship, Gaziantep.

In May-June 2008, she became the Chinese Women's Champion for the second time running with 9.0/11 points in Beijing and having a performance of 2599.[49][50]

At the July 2008 First Saturday GM Tournament in Budapest, Hou Yifan was the top seed but came in second place with 9.0/12 and narrowly missed a GM norm by half a point.[51]

In August 2008 she competed in the World Junior Chess Championship held at Gazientep, Turkey where she competed as the only female in the boy's section for the first time in her career and was the 16th seed on the entrant's list.[52] Hou finished joint 3rd-7th on 9.0/13 (+6 =6 -1) achieving a performance rating of 2661,[53] in the process obtaining her second confirmed GM norm.[54]

From 24 August to 18 September, she is competing in her second Women's World Chess Championship. In this 2008 Championship knockout tournament held in Nalchik, Russia, she was seeded number 3 out of 64 players. She defeated WGM Mona Khaled (Egypt) 2-0 in the first round, and WGM Bathuyang Mongontuul (Mongolia) 2-0 in the second.

She will compete at the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Beijing on 3-8 October,[55] and at the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden on 12-25 November.[56]

If Hou achieves a third GM norm before April 2009 (or if the Atatürk norm is confirmed) she will break Humpy Koneru's record as the youngest female grandmaster.

Rating

Rated 2557 in the July 2008 FIDE rating list, Hou is the 4th highest rated female player and the highest rated girl player in the world. She is also the youngest in the current Top Players Lists.

On 1 July 2006, she was the youngest ever female player to enter the Top 50 Women (#8)[57] and Top 20 Girls (#2)[58] FIDE lists at age of 12 (rated 2488).

Between the April 2006 and July 2006 FIDE rating lists, she gained an impressive 190 rating points from a rating of 2298 to a rating of 2488,[59] which made her the eighth highest rated female player, and the second highest rated girl, in the world.

Rating list[60] Rating[60] Games[60] Change[61] National women's
ranking[61] 		Women's world ranking
(Girl's)[61] 		World ranking[62]
January 2004 2168 23 - 40 662-667 -
April 2004 2168 0 0 40 657-659 23776
July 2004 2153 7 -15 63 755-763 20601
October 2004 2153 0 0 43 782-788 27081
January 2005 2144 3 -9 44 834-845 28770
April 2005 2158 13 +14 42-43 763-769 26586
July 2005 2158 0 0 41 760-763 26896
October 2005 2220 25 +62 28 470-475 16973
January 2006 2269 12 +49 21 291-294 10606
April 2006 2298 6 +29 16 204-207 7959
July 2006 2488 41 +190 3 8 (2) 855
October 2006 2481 19 -7 4 10 (2) 942
January 2007 2509 30 +28 3 8 (2) 673
April 2007 2513 22 +4 2 6 (2) 646
July 2007 2523 25 +10 2 4 (2) 565
October 2007 2502 19 -21 3 8 (2) 742
January 2008 2527 67* +25 2 5 (1) 549
April 2008 2549 22 +22 2 4 (1) 386
July 2008 2557 35 +8 2 4 (1) 363
  • bold, new peak rating
  • * Most number of games played in a quarter by a female player in FIDE rating history[63]

Openings

Hou Yifan's openings repertoire includes primarily playing 1.e4 as White and as Black, the Sicilian Defence (including the Najdorf, Dragon and Closed variations) and the French Defence against 1.e4 and, the Nimzo-/Bogo-Indian and Queen's Indian defences against 1.d4.[64]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hou Yifan.

References

  1. ^ Hou Yifan New in Chess NICBase Online Info.
  2. ^ chesspawn.net
  3. ^ According to FIDE, "girl" players are those under the age of 21 years.
  4. ^ After Judit Polgar, Koneru Humpy and Xie Jun, as of July 1, 2008 official rating list.
  5. ^ a b Chess grandmaster Hou, 13, is no square! Sep 4 2007 by Adrian Butler, Liverpool Echo
  6. ^ a b c WWCC 2006 Ekaterinburg, Russia. Hou Yifan: "Dreaming of a house in Paris" 22.03.2006
  7. ^ Biography of Yifan Hou. V. Marx György Memorial, 4th - 15th August 2007 Paks, Hungary.
  8. ^ Interview at the Women's World Chess Championship 2006 by the tournament's organisers. Accessed March 24, 2006.
  9. ^ ChessBase.
  10. ^ Barden, Leonard (2008-03-15). "Chess". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-03-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ World Youth Chess Championships 2003 Girls Under 10 Standings. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  12. ^ World Youth Chess Championships 2004 Boys U10 Standings. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  13. ^ Asian Women's Championship
  14. ^ ChessBase news article on the World Ladies Tournament in Jinan. Accessed March 24, 2006.
  15. ^ ChessBase news article on the Women's World Championship 2006, round two. Accessed March 24, 2006.
  16. ^ Hou Beats Former European Champion
  17. ^ Womens World Championship
  18. ^ 37th Chess Olympiad official homepage Women's Team Composition with Round Results. Accessed June 6, 2006.
  19. ^ 37th Chess Olympiad OlimpBase
  20. ^ ChessBase news article on the World Junior Championship 2006. Accessed December 25, 2006.
  21. ^ Corus Grandmaster Group C Final Standings. Accessed February 15, 2007.
  22. ^ Wijk aan Zee 2007
  23. ^ Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2007. Round 13 28th January 2007.
  24. ^ Snowflakes are fallin' on the Aeroflot Open 2007
  25. ^ Aeroflot Open 2007: Evgeny Alekseev wins in style
  26. ^ WGM Hou, Yifan aeroflotchess.com
  27. ^ 1st World Team Chess Championship (women) OlimpBase
  28. ^ China wins Women's Team Championship by two points
  29. ^ Hou Yifan at the World Women's Team Chess Championship OlimpBase.
  30. ^ Youngest Hou Yifan wins national chess title. Accessed June 19, 2007.
  31. ^ 2007 China Women's Indivi - CHN. FIDE.
  32. ^ TWIC
  33. ^ official website
  34. ^ Linex and Monte-Carlo are European Team Champions
  35. ^ Everybody's there – at the European Club Cup in Turkey
  36. ^ China Wins Classic Chess Gold in Macau Asian Indoor Games
  37. ^ Hou Yifan at the Asian Indoor Games OlimpBase.
  38. ^ 2nd Asian Indoor Games: Macau 2007
  39. ^ Wijk R13: Aronian, Carlsen win Wijk aan Zee 2008. Accessed January 29, 2008.
  40. ^ Nepomniachtchi wins Aeroflot Open 2008
  41. ^ Yifan Hou scored GM norm at Aeroflot
  42. ^ Atatürk Istanbul: Hou Yifan wins Atatürk Masters
  43. ^ Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament
  44. ^ Barden, Leonard (2008-03-29). "Chess". The Guardian. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  45. ^ Yifan Hou, a new chess star on the horizon
  46. ^ Requirements for the titles designated in 0.31
  47. ^ Second Ruy López International Chess Festival in Mérida
  48. ^ Michael Adams wins Second Ruy López International in Mérida
  49. ^ Chinese Championships TWIC
  50. ^ Tournament Report FIDE
  51. ^ Hou Yifan just misses GM Norm 19 July 2008
  52. ^ "World Junior Chess Championship Starting Rank List".
  53. ^ "World Junior Chess Championship Final Ranking".
  54. ^ "World Junior Chess Championship Norms".
  55. ^ USCF. 1st World Mind Sports Games in China - July 24, 2008
  56. ^ Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008, teams
  57. ^ [1]
  58. ^ [2]
  59. ^ Rating progress chart for Hou Yifan. Accessed July 5, 2007.
  60. ^ a b c FIDE Ratings Chart
  61. ^ a b c Rating data for player Hou, Yifan, (CHN)
  62. ^ Elo rating with world rankings and historical development since 2004 for Hou, Yifan (benoni.de/schach/elo)
  63. ^ [3] [4]
  64. ^ Chessgames Chess.com

External links

Preceded by Women's Chinese Chess Champion
2007, 2008 		Succeeded by
TBD

Template:Persondata

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